


Wor Ste Komba Raun

by DisguisedasInnocent



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-03-17 10:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3525206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisguisedasInnocent/pseuds/DisguisedasInnocent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wor Ste Komba Raun - War is Coming.</p><p>The Commander of the Trigedakru walked away from the Mountain with her people. She led them to safety and away from danger. Now, Lexa of the Tri Kru prepares to walk back to the Mountain to fight for her Kwin. Her Queen. Her Clarke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hodnes Laik Kwelnes

**Author's Note:**

> It was initially said on my tumblr page (noiseinallthequietspaces) that I wasn't going to write a post 2x15 story until 2x16 aired because I wanted to watch them back to back and process. That failed. Here's my post 2x15 story... There will be violence and some death in the next chapter. Enjoy.

Thick dark brown hair whipped around Lexa’s face as she stood at the edge of the gorge beside the Skaikru’s abandoned dropship. Hazy rain pounded the ground from the sky forcing the Trigedakru into the protective shelter of their tents while Lexa stood among the elements. The woman stood stoically in the darkness, her eyes focused on the horizon in the distance, her body still and silent. Her heart ached in the centre of her chest, unbidden and unrestrained, throbbing with pain and regret. Her blood pulsed thick and heavy throughout the vessels of her body. It thrummed underneath her flesh with the unappeased desire for combat and vengeance. “Indra,” Lexa spoke, her words clipped and even on the end of her tongue, slipping out of her mouth to float on the breeze to her General. “Lead my people home.”

“Heda,” Indra paused and stepped up to the edge of the gorge to stand at Lexa’s side. Her eyes peered at the woman’s tanned flesh, turned pale by the moonlight filtering through the clouds, and traced the smudged black lines that coursed down the contours of her face. “You cannot.”

“I am The Commander.” Lexa reminded the woman with a bark to her tone and a sad tilt of her head. “I can do as I wish.”

“They’re dead Heda.” Indra whispered. “This is war.”

“Yes.” Lexa agreed. The woman tipped her head back to catch the rain on her face. Her eyes fluttered closed against the torrent of water allowing the cooling sensation to slide across her features. It washed away the mixture of blood and charcoal on her cheeks. It cleansed her face of the horrors of battle. “It is war, and it is a war I have won. I have led my people out of darkness Indra. The Commander will return regardless, but Lexa must go to Clarke.”

“Her fight is over Heda.” Indra argued her voice filled with a mixture of heated anger and pain. Her hand reached upwards to clasp around the taut muscle of Lexa’s shoulder, her fingers digging into the flesh hidden underneath Lexa’s clothing, tugging until their eyes met. “You cannot give your life for nothing.”

“Victory stands on the back of sacrifice Indra.” Lexa murmured with a smile etched across her lips. “Did you not teach Anya those words once?”

“Heda,” Indra spoke but her words trailed off into silence as she stared into her Commander’s jade orbs.

Sadness clung to the woman’s eyes, bright jade turned angry forest green by the pain, a wall of indifference covering the ache of the woman’s heart. Lexa turned on her heel. She shrugged Indra’s hand from her shoulder in the process and stepped away from the edge of the gorge. “I will be taking Lincoln, Indra, and any others that volunteer for him, to return to the Mountain for Clarke and the Sky People. I ask that you do not follow me. I need you to lead my people away from this place. Lead them away from death.”

“You have already led them away from death Heda.” Indra said in an effort to provide a level of reassurance to the other woman. “I will lead them home.”

Lexa dipped her head in acknowledgement before striding through the gap in the trees into the Trigedakru encampment. The Commander strode confidently through the centre of the tents, ignoring the weight of her warriors’ eyes as she passed, fixated on her destination. Lexa kept her eyes low to the ground until she stopped at the entrance to the prison tent. “Leave us.” She ordered with a sharp bark. Lexa waited until the guards stepped away from the tent and into the darkness. Then she peeled the tarpaulin flaps aside to enter the tent.

“Heda,” Lincoln murmured. His eyebrows furrowed into a tight curious line while a frown marred his lips.

“Lincoln,” Lexa answered. “Do you still follow me?”

“Always Heda,” Lincoln replied, his voice quick and steady, his heart clenched at the pain that swallowed his words. “But I follow Clarke, and my heart, as well.”

“Good.” Lexa muttered as she stepped around Lincoln’s body. Her knife slid into the palm of her hand. Her fingers reached out to grasp the woven rope that bound Lincoln’s wrists. She tugged it sharply sideways to slip the blade underneath the rope. “We are going to need your heart soon.”

“I…” Lincoln paused and swallowed the nerves that sparked throughout his body. “I do not understand Heda.”

“I need you to father any warriors who are willing to venture back to the Mountain.” Lexa began with a grunt as she tore through the bindings that surrounded Lincoln’s wrists before bending to begin on those that bound his ankles. “We are to meet at the dropship of the Skaikru in one candle mark’s time. Then, we attack at the Mountain.”

“We’re going back?” The man marvelled. “Why did we leave?”

Lexa paused, her mind throwing up the image of Clarke’s face, broken and desperate, from the moment she turned away from the Mountain. “The Commander needs to act with her head.” She answered after a long moment of silence. “She led her people out of danger, because it saved many lives, and sacrificed few. Now that it is done, she is free to do as her heart demands. I left Clarke out of necessity, Lincoln, not desire. Now I return out of desire.”

Lincoln twisted his neck to look into his Commander’s eyes. He watched the pale green of her gaze flicker across his blood stained cheeks, across the inky blackness that clung to his cheeks, before dragging down the length of his arms to the raw skin of his wrists. He saw his pain echoed in the depths of her eyes and breathed out heavily. “I will gather any warrior willing to join us Heda.” He murmured with his voice soft and gentle, his hand lifting to grip Lexa’s shoulder, squeezing in an offer of reassurance. “Ryder will join us, I am sure, and there will be others.”

“You have a mark Lincoln.” Lexa cautioned the man with a commanding stare. “Gather those you can and meet me. I will bring spare weapons, but most warriors should carry their own.”

“Sha Heda.” Lincoln dipped his head respectfully as he replied. He stepped away from his leader and ducked underneath the edge of the rear of the tent. He strode out into the darkness of the damp night. Lexa listened for a moment waiting for the slight crunch of his footsteps to fade into silence.

Lexa breathed in, caught the air in the pit of her lungs and held it for a long minute before blowing it out of her nose in a rough exhale. The dark haired woman rubbed her fingers along the hilt of her sword drawing comfort from the cool metal. However, it reminded her of the task ahead. She turned away from the mess of cut rope and stepped out of the entrance of the tent. She bypassed the two Guards who flowed out of the darkness to resume their vigil. Lexa bit down on the inside of her cheek to marshal her expression into a blank stare as she crossed the encampment to reach The Commander’s tent.

“No one is to disturb me tonight.” Lexa order to the guards her voice authoritative and commanding. She held their eyes warningly, flickering between their twin gazes, until they dipped their heads in understanding.

Lexa stepped inside her tent, her fingers reaching upwards to begin the process of stripping The Commander’s armour from her shoulders, nimble digits working at buckles and ties. She folded the red linen sash, lifting it to her nose to breathe in the scent of leather, placing it into her travel chest. Her fingers unbuckled the clasps of her pauldrons, easing the thick leather and rubber from her shoulders, tucking them neatly into the chest over the sash. The hard buttons of her leather surcoat followed. She pushed them through thin openings until each button released and the coat slid down her back. Lexa folded the clothing and secured it inside the chest before flicking the lock with a quick twist of her fingers.

“Wor ste komba raun,” Lexa muttered as she turned away from the chest striding across the room to the abandoned pile of Clarke’s clothes – spare and old intermixed. “War is coming.”

The woman dropped to her knees in front of the clothing. Her fingers grasped the soft cotton of Clarke’s abandoned shirt. She lifted it to her nose to breathe in the scent of the woman’s skin and sweat. Lexa shrugged her undershirt off quickly, her chest heaving against the bindings of her breasts as she pulled Clarke’s shirt over her head, letting it settle on her shoulders like a comfort blanket. Lexa tugged a thick deer-hide shirt from the pile and pulled it onto her arms, lacing it up at the front before pulling on a pair of sturdy leather pauldrons.

Lexa turned away from the armour. She scooped up a small pile of Clarke’s belongings from the floor - pictures made with smooth charcoal on rippling paper - to place them on the seat of The Commander’s throne. Lexa smoothed her fingers across the turned up edges of the drawings, her eyes tracing the simple lines of Tondc on the page, the arch of the gateway blurring into the woodland crafted from Clarke’s memories. Lexa snatched the bow hooked over the back of the throne and slid it over her shoulder. She secured the quiver at her hip beside her sword.

Lexa backed away from the throne, her heart thundering in her chest as she turned to face the small mirror propped against the edge of her bed, its surface reflecting the dark desperation in her eyes. Lexa collected a damp cloth and a jar of kohl before kneeling in front of the mirror. Her hands lifted the cloth to her face, wiping away the smeared war paint from her cheeks, sliding the cloth down the length of her cheeks and across her eyelids. It came away black and crimson. Lexa rubbed at her skin until the mirror showed pink but clean skin on her reflection. Three fingers dipped into the jar of kohl, coating the tips, before lifting to press against the skin above Lexa’s left eyebrow. “Yu gonplei ste no odon Klok,” Lexa pleaded into the night air, her voice thick with emotion. “Ste yuj,” She drew her fingers diagonally across her face leaving behind three thick black trails that cut across the bridge of her nose.

Under the cover of darkness, Lexa slipped out of the back of her tent and into the silence of the night. Her footsteps made no sound against the damp earth. Her body blended into the shadows, covered in black, distorting the shapes of the trees. Lexa skirted around the healer’s tents. She cut between two small tents to reach the edge of the supply wagons blending into the shadows. Dark green eyes cast around the open ground appraisingly. Lexa took note the guard standing at the edge of the tent circle. The man’s hands were tight around his spear but his eyes slack with sleep. Lexa slipped three of the sharpest swords off the back of the wagon, slipping each through her belt, securing the long blades to her body. Then, she hooked two bows over her shoulders, scooped two quivers of arrows into her arms, and backed away from the supply wagon.

Lexa crept around the edge of the encampment, her eyes noticing the fire burning in the middle of Indra’s tent, the walls glowing with the flickering light of the flames. She kept to the shadows, snaking between the tents until she reached the edge of the forest where she faded into the darkness of the undergrowth. The Commander moved swiftly through the forest as soft and silence as a predator stalking its prey. Her feet made no sound on the earth. No twigs snapped underneath the weight of her boots. No animals squealed out of the way of her path. Silence clung to the air.

The woman reached the edge of the Skaikru children’s former home and paused at the boundary. Her heart shuddered in her chest at the sight of the ash and bones. Her lungs heaved at the stench of death that clung to the mix of wood and metal that formed the wall. Lexa pushed her hand against the broken doorway. She felt the thick oak underneath her fingers tremble. The wood mourning the weight of a hundred deaths pressed into its bark. Lexa remembered sitting on her throne and listening to the reports of the pale children fallen from the sky. She remembers wishing to remove the enemy threat from her land. The woman swallowed the pain that welled up in her throat and stalked across the field of ash and dust towards the entrance ramp of the dropship. Lexa dropped the weapons on the metal and sank to her knees at the base of the ship. Her eyes closed as she whispered prayers to the night sky and the gods above.

Nimble fingers reached upwards into long thick hair to work the braided strands undone. Lexa untangled the interlocked pattern until the long locks flowed loose in the breeze. Then she formed a braid on each side of her head and twined them together at the back of her skull. Lexa took an inch from the interwoven braid, slicing through the strands of hair with her knife before cutting the centre of her palm, pressing the hair into the cut. “An offering,” Lexa murmured into the still night soaking the hair with her blood before pressing it against the cold metal of Clarke’s ship, “For her safety.”

Lexa turned on her heels and sat on the edge of the ramp peering through the gap in the trees at the moon hanging high in the sky. She watched it pass across the night, idly passing the time until Lincoln appeared at the edge of the forest, her hands poised over her weapons. “Heda,” Lincoln called from the edge of the ash circle, his eyes tracking the shift in his Commander’s expression as she rose to stand. “I have brought those that wished to fight.”

The haphazard collection of Trigedakru warriors streamed through the broken gateway into the enclosed area in front of the dropship. They came to a halt in front of their Commander and dipped their heads in respect. Lexa let her eyes slip across the warriors, nodding at Ryder, who stood at the back of the group of fifteen. His hand clenched tight over the hilt of his sword. His expression held tight and stubborn, his affection for Clarke shone clear in his eyes, as well as his need for combat. The woman’s green eyes scanned each warrior in turn before stopping on a woman with ragged deerskin trousers cinched around her hips and a thin strip of fabric bunch around her breasts. “You are from the Mountain.” Lexa muttered with a frown. “Why do you come?”

“A Skaikru warrior saved my life Heda.” The woman answered quietly, her words shaking while her body remained motionless. “It would be dishonourable not to fight if I could – to be idle when they were not.”

“What is your name?” Lexa inquired with a tilt of her head.

“Echo,” The woman replied. She swallowed hard as she lifted her eyes to meet the Commander’s gaze. “Bellamy of the Sky released our people, Heda; let me fight for the Skaikru now.”

Lexa felt her lips twitch upwards into an amused smile at the sound of Bellamy’s name on Echo’s lips. “Pick your weapon.” She said as she stepped aside. “Warriors that hold bows should take a sword, or hold a dagger, as well. We move out soon.”

“Sha Heda.” The group answered as one, bowing their heads before stepping around their Commander to prepare their weapons.

Lexa strode away from the group of warriors to stand at Lincoln’s side, noticing Nyko perched on the man’s shoulder, his hands curled around the hilt of a short sword. “Welcome Nyko,” Lexa muttered with approval shining in her tone. “I am pleased that you chose to march with us.”

“We are to aid the Skai Kwin.” Nyko answered with a small inclination of his head and a smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. “It is a good cause. Clarke is an admirable leader, and their people honourable.”

“It is as you say.” Lexa murmured as she watched the warriors fixing the weapons to their bodies and securing their armour. “Trigedakru, we march!”


	2. Osir Kom Trikru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The assault on the Mountain begins...

The Trigedakru strode into the thick darkness of the night, their footsteps light and soundless, masked by the damp soil of the Earth. Spruce and pine trees reached up into the sky, canopies concealing the eighteen warriors from the moon, casting long shadows over the ground. Deep green eyes flickered over the motionless forest, Lexa’s lips pursed in thought, her mind thrown back to the edge of the Mountain and Clarke’s distressed blue gaze. “Lincoln,” Lexa murmured drawing the man’s attention away from Nyko towards the Commander. “Come, I require your knowledge.”

“Sha Heda,” Lincoln replied. The man squeezed his companion’s shoulder in a reassuring manner, offering Nyko a quick nod of his head, before striding away to the front of the small congregation of warriors. “How can I aid you Heda?”

“The tunnels,” Lexa said, running the palm of her hand across the hilt of her sword. “We have to use them to gain access to the Mountain. It is the only way left to us. We cannot use the gateways through the stone.”

Lincoln hummed his agreement, a frown marring his lips, and he parted his lips to reply. “We cannot be seen until we are within.”

“Quite,” Lexa said with a sigh and a slight shake of her head. “They were the terms of the agreement. We were to retreat, and if we were seen by the Mountain Men afterwards then the soldier said his superiors would murder the Sky People.” 

“You brokered for their lives?” Lincoln asked with a frown. 

“I brokered for the lives of our people.” Lexa replied turning her head to meet Lincoln’s dark brown eyes briefly before returning her gaze to the forest ahead. “I dealt to give Clarke a chance. If the Trigedakru had remained then it is likely that our people and the Skaikru would have died under the Mountain.” 

“She believes you have betrayed her Heda.” Lincoln cautioned his voice soft and his words light in the air. “Clarke loves her people.”

“I know.” Lexa assured the man. “Yet, if I can ensure her safety, I find that I do not mind being subjected to her anger.” 

Lincoln felt a small smile tug at the corners of his lips as he looked down at his Commander’s expression. He saw the faint traces of emotion clinging to the woman’s lips, the tight curve of her jaw, and the clench of her fingers around the hilt of her sword. “Perhaps,” Lincoln began, swallowing hard when Lexa’s eyes rose to meet his gaze. “She will come to understand your actions tonight if we help her people.” 

“I am going to help Clarke.” Lexa corrected Lincoln with a slight shake of her head. “I do not know her people trapped within the Mountain, and yet, I find that I would risk my life to preserve Clarke’s heart. The Skaikru are lucky to be blessed with a leader that feels for them the way that she does. She bleeds for her people Lincoln.” 

“She won’t if we can help her tonight.” Lincoln said. He placed his hand softly on Lexa’s shoulder, offering his strength to his Commander’s plans, willing the woman’s spirit forward into battle. “The Skaikru are strong.” 

“Your Octavia will endure.” Lexa muttered. “Tell me of the tunnels.”

Lincoln felt his heart shudder in his chest at the mention of Octavia, but he felt the warmth of his Commander’s approval burst within his veins at the same time. “There are many entrances to the tunnels.” He said as he began to describe the mines that littered the landscape surrounding Mount Weather. “If we are not to be seen then we need to enter one of the tunnels nearby and move through them towards the underground entrance to the compound. There will be Reapers.” 

“Reapers,” Lexa tasted the word on the end of her tongue and swirled it around her mouth in thought. “Do you believe we can use the Reapers Lincoln?”

“No.” The man sighed. “The Mountain Men carry a sound device that the Reapers are trained to feel pain from when it is used. You saw it yourself Heda, on the hillside, with the Mountain Man after the missile. The sound is piercing.”

“Then we must either lead the Reapers away from the tunnels, or we must incapacitate them.” Lexa mused. “Lincoln, do you know how many Reapers remain in the tunnels at all times?”

“No Heda.” Lincoln admitted with a twitch of his jaw. “The Red stopped your mind making sense of anything but more Red.” 

“An estimate Lincoln, I need nothing more.” Lexa urged quietly, biting down on her bottom lip, running through a series of possible plans in her mind. 

Lincoln gritted his teeth and cast his mind back through his memories, searching for faces, or markings, to bring forth a number. “Thirty.” He said. “No more. There wouldn’t be enough food for more at a time. The Mountain Men send bodies through feeding gateways - Clarke told me that she escaped with Anya through one of the tubes.” 

Lexa inclined her head in acknowledgement and pursed her lips. “That must mean that the tubes lead upwards into the Mountain. They are our means of access.” 

“It will be hard Heda; the tubes are smooth, and straight up.” Lincoln advised. “North Heda, there is a tunnel entrance near here; we will be obscured from the Mountain Men inside.” 

“With the Skaikru inside their walls, and Clarke outside, they will not be watching their tunnels.” Lexa said with a faint smirk covering her lips. “Echo, come.” 

The dark haired Grounder woman moved up from the middle of the walking warriors to walk a pace behind Lexa at her side, keeping her eyes low, trained on the ground. “Sha Heda?” She asked with a crack in her voice. 

“Do you remember the inside of the Mountain? They led you out from the cages,” Lexa’s jaw clenched at the word, her anger bubbling up through her veins, bursting out of her lips as she growled the word. “We will need your directions inside.” 

“I can remember some of it Heda.” Echo answered with a dip of her head. “Their walls are all the same.” 

The Trigedakru stopped at the entrance to Lincoln’s tunnel, their bodies forming a horseshoe shape in front of Lexa, the Commander standing in the entrance to the tunnel network. The woman cast her eyes over the warriors, taking in the set of their shoulders, the grim light in their eyes, and the readiness of their hands on their weapons. “Earlier today we prepared to fight to regain our people,” Lexa began, nodding her head at Echo as she spoke. “Now, we prepare to fight to regain the Skaikru, our companions in this war, who are losing their lives within this Mountain the same way our ancestors have lost their lives for generations. The Mountain Men believe that we are savages, and lesser beings, because we walk the Earth. The Skaikru Kwin believes we are oath-breakers. Let us prove now we are warriors of honour. We fight to avenge our people, our people’s people, and secure our future.”

“Heda!” The group roared their fists pounding against their chests, their boots stomping against the floor as their eyes shone with pride.

Lexa found her lips curling upwards into a smile at the sight of her warriors, strong and proud, and their fierce enthusiasm. “There are Reapers inside these tunnels. We cannot worry about bringing them out of their madness until we are finished with the Mountain. Do not hesitate. Lincoln, lead us to the tubes.” 

“Sha Heda.” Lincoln murmured. 

The dark skinned man clenched his hand around his short sword, pulling it free from its scabbard, and strode confidently into the tunnels. Lexa stepped onto the man’s heels, her bow drawn and an arrow notched, ready and waiting for the first sign of danger. Ten minutes passed without incident, the eighteen warriors creeping through the darkness, their eyes peering into the murky underground world adjusting the lack of light. Thick dank decay hung heavy in the air as a putrid smell that clogged the Trigedakru’s lungs and threatened to cause bile to rise up their throats. At multiple points down the curving tunnels piles of clothes sat on the ground, abandoned to the animals and the elements, signs of the dead long forgotten.

Lincoln paused at a corner, his body pushed against the wall of the tunnel, his eyes dark as he crouched to peer around the curve. “Reapers Heda,” He murmured his voice low and quiet in the air. “There are three grouped together, one hundred feet down the tunnel, straight ahead.”

“Echo, Stye, to me.” Lexa ordered, bringing the other two bow carrying warriors to the front of the group. “Echo, target left, Stye, target right, and I shall go down the centre. We are likely to attract more Reapers. Each shot must be a kill shot. We pin them back and reduce their numbers. Understand?” 

“Yes.” Echo said with a smirk while Stye merely nodded his head.

“We must move now.” Lexa commanded striding out into the tunnel exposing her body to the Reapers as she fired the first arrow.

It struck the man standing in the middle of the tunnel in his ear, sliding through the canal into the man’s brain, his body crumpling onto the ground as his companions turned to face Lexa. The man on the left fell moment before the woman on the right crashed to the ground. Four more Reapers appeared from around the curve of the tunnel, but they fell quickly to the loosed arrows. Lexa shot seven times and seven times a Reaper fell to the ground, bleeding and shuddering, but dying. The trickle of Reapers soon stopped, the tunnel clear ahead, bodies piled on the ground. 

“Come.” Lexa grunted as she walked down the tunnel towards the Reapers. “They were defending their feeding station. Now, we must climb.”

“We are Trikru.” Echo grinned as she hooked her bow across her shoulders. “We know how to climb well.”


	3. Disha Gonplei Ste Odon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Commander Lexa and her warriors infiltrate Mount Weather using the Reaper Feeding Tube used to dispose of Grounder bodies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys! I've been a little overwhelmed at University and such, I'm on holiday now and so I should be writing more in the coming week.

“Heda,” Lincoln reached out and placed his hand on Lexa’s shoulder. “You should not go first. The passage might be barred.” 

Lexa tilted her head to the side in acknowledgement of Lincoln’s words while her eyes remained trained on the smooth sides of the metallic tube. “I will not let my people go where I am not brave enough to proceed.” Lexa murmured swallowing back the knot of fear that rose up her throat as she gazed into the darkness. “I will lead the way.” 

“You already lead the way Heda and you are too important to lose.” Lincoln whispered. “Let me proceed first. I will make handholds for you to follow me.”

The dark haired woman shook her head, the corners of her lips twitching upwards into a smile as she turned her head to regard the profile of Lincoln’s face. “You are brave Lincoln kom Trikru.” 

“I do my duty.” Lincoln replied with a dip of his head and quirk of his eyebrow.

The man stepped forward to the edge of the feeding tube and drew his knife out of the holster on his hip, gripping the leather wrapped handle tight in the palm of his hand, pushing his free hand against the smooth metal wall. “I will call down if I find the top of the tube free.”

“I will follow you in a count of sixty Lincoln, climb quickly.” Lexa replied, slipping her knife out of her holster to press it into the man’s free palm. “Climb true.” 

“I am Trikru Heda.” Lincoln muttered with a grin on his lips. “I cannot climb anything but true.” 

Lexa stood at the bottom of the tube watching as Lincoln fashioned small ledges in the side of the metal wall, stabbing through the metal with the tip of his knife before trusting his covered fingers into the gap to begin the climb. Lincoln’s back rested against the opposite wall, supporting his weight as he pulled his body up the length of the long tube. Lexa’s green eyes followed Lincoln’s back up into the gloom, silently counting the seconds as they passed. “Ryder, guard the exit as the rest of us climb, give a count of fifteen after the last person before following us up. Understand?”

“Sha Heda.” Ryder murmured with a nod, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword. “Do we fear more Reapers Heda?”

“These are the Reapers’ tunnels Ryder,” Lexa reminded the man with a sharp gaze. “We’ve dispatched the ones that reside in this area, but you know as well as I do that the Maunon have been taking our people for generations. There could be hundreds of Reapers and we would not be able to place them all.” 

“Understood Heda,” Ryder dipped his head and gritted his teeth.

A distant scraping sound echoed down the metal tube prompting Lexa to lift her head upwards her eyes peering into the deep gloom. Lexa searched through the darkness for a sign of Lincoln’s back, or the glitter of light at the top of the tunnel. “It is safe Heda.” Lincoln’s voice drifted down the tube. “I have wedged the door open.”

Lexa cast her eyes backwards towards the congregation of warriors at her back. “I will climb first, follow quickly; we must breach the Mountain before the Maunon know that we are inside their rock prison.” The dark haired woman ignored the murmurings of her people as she thrust her fingers into the handholds left by Lincoln’s deft touch, lifting her body up off the ground before pushing her back against the smooth metal wall. Lexa climbed quickly, using the lip of the handholds to wiggle the tip of her boot into the gap, hoisting her body upwards rapidly. The woman paused at the top of the chute, her eyes peering out of the gloom into the dull light of the room, searching for signs of mishap before hauling her body through the propped open door. 

The woman green eyes scanned the room, noting the small hooks hanging from the ceiling surrounding a set of metal devices covered in various buttons with tubes erupting from multiple pipes. Lexa swallowed the bile that rose up her throat at the sight, her mind attaching the devices to Clarke’s description of the tubing used to funnel the blood of her people out of their bodies. Lexa cast her eyes sideways. Her gaze met the cold metal cages that had imprisoned her people. She took a step towards the first row of cages before stopping her footsteps and turning her body away from the sight. “What have you scouted Lincoln?”

“There are two exits from this room.” Lincoln said, gesturing towards each of the doorways in turn, his eyes fixated on the Commander’s intense gaze. “One leads out into a grey corridor, the other into a room with beds but no occupants.” 

“The medical wing,” Lexa hummed thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side as she played with the hilt of her sword. 

“Your dagger Heda,” Lincoln murmured as he handed the pristine weapon back to the Commander. 

The Trigedakru warriors quickly assembled around the opening of the feeding chute, their eyes focused on the opposite wall from the cages, intent not to see the reminder of their people’s imprisonment in the mountain. Echo emerged from the opening of the chute, her eyes heavy with fear and anger, her blood boiling in her veins. “Heda, do we have a plan?”

“Yes.” Lexa said with a smirk stretching the corners of her lips. “The Skaikru warrior that released you from the cage, Bellamy, did he mention where the Skaikru captives were being kept?”

“No.” Echo shook her head. “But, the Doctors that came to collect us for... They mentioned Level Five and plans to gas the enter level in order to capture the children.” 

“Level Five.” Lexa hummed in thought, pursing her lips as she glanced at the two doorways. “Clarke will not go directly to Level Five; she will understand that if the Mountain Men know that she’s infiltrated the Mountain that is where they would mount a defence.”

“Octavia...” Lincoln shook his head and frowned. “Clarke would send Octavia to her people.”

“That is where you will be going Lincoln.” Lexa murmured. “Out of the door to the medical wing, it will lead to corridors, but it should be simple to follow the numbered walls to Level Five. I want you to take half of our warriors to free the Skaikru there, Nyko will accompany you to deal with any of their injuries, and we have to assume some of them will be hurt.” 

“Where will you be going Heda?” Lincoln asked with a frown marring his lips. 

Lexa smiled and lifted her hand to squeeze the man’s shoulder reassuringly. “I will take the remaining warriors, Echo and Stye, with me to locate Clarke and the Leaders of the Maunon.” 

“Do you know where they will be?” Lincoln frowned, his eyes flickering between Nyko’s level gaze and Echo’s fierce anger. “We have no knowledge of the inside of the Mountain bar this room and the corridors that led Echo and her people out.”

“Precisely,” Lexa grinned allowing the corners of her lips to curl into a smile. “Echo knows some of the corridors that led out of the Mountain. I propose that we find one and head in the opposite direction, further into the Mountain, to find the headquarters of the Maunon leaders.” 

Echo barked out a short laugh and nodded in approval. “I can lead you some of the way Heda. I saw men coming from another area of the Mountain when they brought us out of the inside.”

“We look for signs of Clarke and Octavia, follow them, and kill any Maunon that we come into contact with immediately.” Lexa ordered with a decisive bark to her voice before striding across the floor of the holding room towards the exit. “We shall end their fights tonight.” 

“Sha Heda.” Nyko murmured softly, bowing his head as he stood at Lincoln’s side, watching as Echo and Stye lead a group of six warriors out of the doorway into the concrete corridors. “Spirits guide you.”


	4. Mebi Oso Na Hit Choda Op Nodotaim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inside the Mountain it is time for Lincoln and Lexa to part ways, to carve a path through the Mountain's tunnels, one to secure the Skaikru and one to secure to the Skai Kwin.

The Commander stood at the boundary between the dull grey corridors that formed the maze of Mount Weather’s internal structure and the holding room. The woman’s pale forest green eyes slid across the walls, idly noting the imperfections in the paint work, smeared sections that covered damage to the concrete. Her eyes followed the line of the corridor until it took a sharp turn, cutting away at a right angle to the corridor’s previous direction, plunging into the Mountain’s interior. Lexa’s lips pursed in annoyance at the break in her line of sight. “Echo,” Lexa said her voice taking on a demanding edge as she turned her eyes to the woman, “You were trained as a tracker in Anya’s village, weren’t you?”

 

“Sha Heda.” Echo answered with a dip of her head. “I took lessons with Anya and her second Tris.”

 

Echo’s eyes focused on the sharp curve of Lexa’s jawline, her eyes roaming across the profile of the younger woman’s face, taking in the defined features. Echo’s gaze slid from Lexa’s jaw upwards across the rise of her cheekbone before landing on the bridge of her nose and the three black kohl lines that bisected Lexa’s nose. The woman’s eyes fell to Lexa’s shoulders, broad and regal, but with the tensed tautness of nerves and anticipation.

 

“Good.” Lexa mused as she bit down on her bottom lip. She nibbled the flesh as she ran through a series of plans inside her mind, flicking through her knowledge of her warriors abilities and equipment, picking through the options that laid themselves bare in front of her mind. Lexa’s eyes settled on a man with a heavyset body, his shoulder board and muscular, his eyes stern and cold. “Coal,” The woman spoke prompting the man’s eyes to rise off the floor and pierce Lexa’s gaze. “You and Tan will maintain our command of this room. It is our only known route of retreat from the Mountain, it must remain safe, and secure.”

 

“Sha Heda,” Coal grinned in reply, his lips stretching into a confident smirk, his hand shifting to clasp the shoulder of the woman at his side. “Tan and I will hold.”

 

“It is best you do.” Lexa said sharply before turning her gaze from the brother and sister to peer into Lincoln’s soft brown eyes. “It is time to part ways, take Nyko with you, and find the Skaikru caught inside the Mountain. If it is possible sneak them out of these dungeons through the tunnels, take them either to the Camp of the Skaikru, or else, to Indra. She will not accept them to the Camp, but she will give aid. She knows my desires on this matter.”

 

“Heda,” Lincoln swallowed the words that bubbled up this throat and instead dipped his body into a shallow bow, “Mebi oso na hit choda op nodotaim, ste yuj Heda.”

 

“Yu seintaim Lincoln,” Lexa offered as she stepped backwards out of the doorway.

 

The thick metal door clicked closed silently.

 

Lincoln turned his eyes away from the metal door, ignoring the dull pang that throbbed in his chest, to stare into the eyes of the warriors left within the room. His gaze slipped across familiar and unfamiliar tanned faces, noting the straight and swirling patterns of the tattoos inked across the warrior’s faces, and staring into eyes the shade of bark and grass. “This is not going to be easy,” He remarked with a frown marring his face. “The Maunon have eyes in the very walls of their Mountain. We will need to destroy their devices to move unseen within the Mountain.”

 

“When is it ever easy Brother?” Nyko asked with a tilt of his head. The man’s lips contorted into a small smile, meant simply to offer reassurance, but not comfort. “Come; let us retrieve Octavia of the Sky People. This Mountain is no place for a warrior of the sky.”

 

“Or Ground.” One of the warriors muttered with a sigh. The woman’s eyes lifted to meet Lincoln’s probing gaze. “There’s a door on the other side of that room,” She said nodding her head backwards at the room filled with pristinely made beds, “It leads out into the corridors, but I haven’t seen any sign of movement. Nor have I seen a clue of which direction to take outside the door.”

 

“Clarke described a staircase that led to all the floors of the Mountain, kept behind a locked door, and barred with alarms.” Lincoln murmured dredging up the memories of Clarke’s discussions with Bellamy. “She spoke of it being from the first occupation of the Mountain, by the people of the former world, and signs that would indicate its presence.”

 

Ana turned on her heel. Her fingers closed around the hilt of her sword, clenching it tightly, before striding through the doorway into the room of pristinely made beds and medical equipment. “There,” She said as she pointed through the glass set into the wooden door that led into the grey concrete corridors at the end of the room, “One of the Maunon eyes.”

 

A small boy from the middle of the group settled forward, his shoulders thin and his frame slight, but while his body glistened with inexperience, his eyes shone with fierce determination. “Let me,” He murmured, his fingers pulling a small knife out of the belt attached to his waist, adjusting the weight of the blade to settle comfortably in his palm.

 

Lincoln moved to the side of the door and curled his fingers around the handle. “I will open the door Lak,” Lincoln instructed, “And you will destroy the Maunon eye.”

 

The boy gave a small but distinctive nod and Lincoln wrenched the door wide open. Lak lifted his hand and flung the knife out into the hallway. It tumbled through the air, spinning tip over tail, until the blade embedded into the side of the camera’s casing. It shattered the metal and plastic mixture, cleaving the casing apart, and sending the electronics into a spasm of sparks.

 

“There,” Lak murmured as he stepped into the hallway to retrieve his knife from the destroyed mess. “This eye of theirs is sightless.”

 

“Masta op,” Lincoln ordered, nodding his head down the length of the corridor. “There is the sign we need to follow, the Running Man, the word underneath reads ‘exit’ it is our path to the stairs.”

 

\--

 

“Echo,” Lexa’s voice remained quiet as she began to speak. The soft sound barely noticeable over the hum of the ventilation fans overhead and the heavy puffs of breath from her warriors. “Lead us to the path the Maunon used to bring our people out of the Mountain.”

 

Echo furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head sideways, confusion shining within her bright eyes. “What purpose does that have Heda?”

 

“The path out of the Mountain rises through the Mountain, does it not?” Lexa asked with a small quirk of her eyebrow, halting her words to wait for Echo’s affirmative nod, and then continuing. “The Command of the Maunon will be nearer the surface of the Mountain then the depths. The man, Emmerson, climbed out of the Mountain quickly to bring his leader’s deal to me. He did not come from the depths of the Mountain, but from the top.”

 

“We did not pass by their Command on our path out of the Mountain Heda.” Echo cautioned the woman with a sigh and a shake of her head.

 

“I know.” Lexa murmured. She licked her lips as she paused to collect her thoughts before continuing to speak. “The Maunon would not wish you to learn the location of their Command. It will be unremarkable, tucked away into the corner, but it will be on this path.”

 

“It is a risk Heda.” Echo said.

 

“Sha,” Lexa agreed. “It is, but our presence within this Mountain is a risk regardless. It is better to take the risk to find their Command. Lincoln and Nyko are heading towards the last known location of the Skaikru. If we fail, then perhaps, they will not.”

 

Echo turned her eyes away from her Commander. Her gaze poured across the grey concrete walls, following the lines of dust displaced by the movement and shuffle of feet, lifting her head to follow the path down the corridor. “This way,” She instructed with a nod of her head. “We walked this way.”

 

\--

 

Lincoln and the seven warriors that followed in his wake crept down multiple hallways and down several flights of stairs, their footsteps light and their shadows still, until they came to the Fifth Floor of the Mountain. “Here,” Lincoln murmured brushing his fingers across the painted number. “This is the correct floor.”

 

“This door looks as if it has been opened recently.” Nyko remarked as he nudged the trails made in the thick dust. “And a set of footprints remain.”

 

Lincoln bent his body double to brush his fingers across the ridges of the footprints before pressing his hand against the ground. “These are Octavia’s prints.”

 

“Then we are close to the Skaikru.” Lak murmured, licking his lips in anticipation.

 

Nyko peered through a small window on the door, his hands braced on either side of the glass, his breathing misting the cool transparent surface. “There are shelves within this room. They create narrow paths between the walls, but I can’t see any people.”

 

“This must be the library.” Lincoln whispered nudging the other man’s shoulder to gain access to the window. “We must move across it to find the Skaikru.”

 

Silently the Trigedakru warriors slipped through the doorway, Lincoln’s firm hands holding it open and easing it closed, before joining Nyko at the head of the column. They strode between the walls of books and drawing pushed high towards the ceiling until they met a second doorway at the end of the room. “There,” Lincoln murmured nodding his head to the door on the other side of the narrow corridor. “There’s a doorway there, I see the corner of a bed. This must be the place where the Skaikru slept.”

 

Lincoln opened the door and stepped out into the corridor.

 

A sword swung to hit the man in his chest, but he bent his body sideways to avoid the blow. He hand flew to the hilt of his sword expecting a second attempted strike, but instead gaining a confused mumble of his name. “Lincoln...”

 

\--

 

“We turned here,” Echo murmured, sliding her fingers against the cool surface of the concrete floor, disturbing the smeared lines of dust. “Three soldiers met the ones escorting us from the Holding Room and directed us down this corridor; it was a straight path from there to the hole in the Mountain’s wall. Three doors to pass through, one that needed to be locked before the next opened each time.”

 

“Air locks,” Lexa murmured thoughtfully, rolling the word over on the end of her tongue. “Clarke explained their purpose to me. They keep the air from the inside of the Mountain separate from that of the outside world.”

 

“Yes, there was a hiss each time the doors opened and closed.” Echo said.

 

“Then we must take this corridor.” Lexa said nodding her head down the undisturbed hallway. “The soldiers must have come from somewhere, it is logical that they came from the command, or the barracks.”

 

“Sha Heda,” Echo said with a small nod. “It is the only path left.”


	5. Wich Ai In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Dante Wallace might have felt remorse for the treatment of the Sky People he does not feel the same way about the Grounders.

Deep ocean blue eyes stared resolutely down the barrel of the woman’s handgun as she held it aloft aimed at a man’s chest. “I am doing this for my people.” The woman murmured, licking her lips to wet the dry flesh, her teeth biting down on the flesh of her inner cheek. “My motives are the same as yours.”

“You are a child Clarke.” The man answered with a small chuckle and a shake of his head. 

“Two months ago I might have said that you’re right.” Clarke murmured tilting her head to the side, her eyes roaming across the man’s wrinkled face. “However, at least I’m not a man whose lost sight of morality.” 

“I haven’t lost sight of anything Clarke.” Dante replied with an angry bite to his tone. “I haven’t lost sight of the ground, my people’s birth right, or loses that we’ve experienced because of the poisoned air. I haven’t sight of our goal of returning to the ground, I’ve furthered it, and I’ve kept my people alive.” 

Clarke tightened her fingers around the grip of her gun. Her index finger tapped thoughtfully against the barrel beside the trigger guard. She kept her eyes focused on Dante’s face, taking in the minor flickers of emotion that slid across his face. “No,” She agreed with a dip of her head. “You haven’t lost sight of that goal, but what price have you paid, and forced your people to pay, for it? My Mother asked an important question once, ‘do we deserve to survive’ and I want to know your answer. Do you deserve to survive?”

Dante paused, his eyebrows narrowed into a fine white line, his lips pursed. “Yes.” He answered after a brief but harsh intake of breath. 

“Those people you’ve murdered, and changed, they’re less than human to you, aren’t they?” Clarke murmured questioningly. She shook her head with a sigh. “Never mind, I know the answer to that.” 

“They’re savages Clarke.” Dante said, a coldness of emotion sinking into his words. “They are nothing more and nothing less.” 

“No.” Clarke shook her head. “They’re not savages. They are survivors.”

“We’ve watched them for generations!” Dante roared angrily, tugging on the ties that held his wrists restrained behind his back. “Those animals kill one another with swords and spears. They gut each other without pause or thought. They kill without a second guess – men, women, and children. It does not matter to them.”

Clarke remembered the sorrow embedded into Lexa’s – The Commander’s – gaze as she lifted her sword to pierce the heart of her beloved general. Clarke remembered the pain that soaked the woman’s tone as she spoke about her deceased love. Clarke remembered the laughter of the children, and the soft respect of the adults, as well as the ferociousness of the warriors. She remembered the soft caring hands of Nyko the healer as he bound Raven’s wounds and the distinct sorrow of Lexa’s apology to the mechanic. 

“Jus drein jus daun,” Clarke muttered with a heavy sigh. “Blood must have blood. Without the cost of punishment, of death, life is meaningless. Your savages are more moral than you are Dante Wallace, because they know the price of death. They know the price of life. Yet you, you do not know anything. You’ve the blood of thousands on your hands, and you do not feel it, do you?”

“I have the lives of hundreds on my hands.” Dante answered with a tilt of his head. “The lives that my people lived because of my actions, I bear the price of death so that they might live.”

“Pretty words,” Clarke murmured. “It’s a pity that they do not mean anything.” 

“Why do you defend savages that betrayed you Clarke?” Dante murmured, his voice bleeding concern, his eyes dull with cold detachment. 

“Clarke,” A voice from the corner of the room spoke, ripping Clarke’s attention away from the bound Dante Wallace towards Monty, and the main computer of the Mountain. “There’s something you might want to see.” 

Clarke holstered her handgun, patting Bellamy on the bicep as she passed the man, before coming to a stop beside Monty. “Have you found our people?” 

“No.” Monty murmured with a rough shake of his head. “But there’s something else I’ve found on the monitors.”

“Show me.” Clarke sighed, pushing her fingers against the bridge of her nose, huffing out a question breath of annoyance and weariness. 

Monty turned back to the computer's keyboard, his long slim fingers working to tap out a rapid series of instructions into the computer, bringing up a set of camera feeds from around the Mountain. Clarke’s eyes slid across the flickering images, her gaze caught on the numbers in the top right hand corner of the screen that denoted the level of the camera, recognising the number five. “Level five,” Clarke muttered with a sigh, “Octavia.” 

“There’s someone else with her now.” Monty said as he directed the camera to zoom in closer to the doorway of the emergency stairwell, “A man.” 

Clarke narrowed her eyes. Her eyebrows knitted together into a tight line as she peered at the man. Her gaze slid across his face, taking in the rough shape of his head before landing on the tattoos that covered the back of the man’s neck and the familiar smear of war paint on his face. “Lincoln,” Clarke breathed out in surprise, swallowing hard to suppress the anxious nerves that buzzed in the back of her throat. “He’s a Grounder.” 

“There’s another group of them.” Monty said, his finger tapping out another pattern of commands, prompting a second set of images to appear on the computer monitors. “This group is heading towards us, disabling the cameras in their wake, like his group did.” 

Clarke blinked.

Her jaw loosened and her throat closed. 

“Lexa,” Clarke breathed out the name softly. Her voice barely lifting above the rasping sound of her breathing while her eyes remained focused on the computer screen. “She… She came back.” 

“Is it another friendly Grounder?” Monty asked with a raised eyebrow, twisting his body to look over Clarke’s shoulder at Bellamy. “Someone we know?”

“Yes.” Clarke answered.

“Perhaps,” Bellamy said. 

“Bellamy,” Clarke shook her head, her eyes glaring at warning into the man’s eyes. “She saved her people.” 

“Perhaps,” Bellamy agreed lifting his hands in surrender. “What are we going to do about it?”

“Do we have a method of contacting Octavia?” Clarke murmured, twisting her head back to the monitors, her eyes glued onto the armour-clad form of Lexa sneaking through the corridors. The Commander’s body bent slightly, her hand clasped over the hilt of her sword, as she led her warriors down the endless corridors. 

“No.” Monty answered with a frown. “But, it looks as if she’s making a plan with that man.” 

“He’s one of us.” Clarke said before frowning at her own words. “Or she’s one of them. I’m not really sure, I think, we’re each other now.” 

“Where does Lexa fit into it?” Monty questioned his eyes focused on the woman directing her warriors around a sharp corner, moving cautiously in the unknown hallway. 

“You know Anya,” Clarke said with a dip of her chin. “The woman that led the Grounders that attacked us at the beginning?”

“I know of her.” Monty replied. 

“She was Lexa’s teacher, and Lexa is the Grounder equivalent of our Chancellor, but instead of leading one clan, she leads them all.” Clarke explained, her hands waving through the air to accompany her words. “She’s… She’s the only reason that we made it to the doors at all.” 

“She abandoned you Clarke.” Bellamy muttered angrily, stepping away his position leading against one of the desks to clasp his hand around Clarke’s shoulder, tugging her sharply until their eyes met. “She left.”

“She’s come back.” Clarke said in reply, her tone firm, and sharp. “She saved her people Bellamy; can you really say that you wouldn’t have done the same if you had been offered the chance? Lexa accepted a deal and took all of her people away without losing any of her warriors and gaining the people locked in the Mountain. She won. She won without fighting, without death.”

Bellamy gritted his teeth, clenching his jaw as he looked down into Clarke’s bright blue eyes. “We could have saved both our people if she stuck to the plan.” 

“The plan involved a lot of people dying.” Clarke murmured, her heart shuddering in her chest at the thought of the wounded men and women of Tondc, burning bodies devoid of life or close to death. “Her duty is to her people Bellamy, she’s their Commander, and she owed us nothing. By Grounder rights, we still owe them for the deaths of their people, for the village we burned with our flares, but she wiped the slate clean.”

The blonde haired woman turned away from her friend. She pushed the weight of his gaze away from her mind as she glanced back down at the computer’s screen. “They’re getting close.” Clarke stepped backwards away from the computers, her eyes darting over to Dante Wallace, taking stock of his position tied to the table at the back of the room. “Keep our prisoner in the dark about the Grounders Bellamy,” Clarke said with a nod of her head towards Dante. “I’m going to go meet them. Trust me, she can help.”

Bellamy blew a frustrated breath out of his nose before nodding. “Be careful Clarke,” Bellamy paused and swallowed hard, forcing the anxious lump in his throat to move, before continuing to speak. “I trust you.” 

“Thank you.” Clarke whispered as she slipped out of the doorway into the darkened corridor outside of the Command Centre.


	6. Teina

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a plan beginning to take form, but it requires the cooperation of the Sky People and the Grounders...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that this took as long as it has to be written. I have plenty of excuses but I'll just keeps it short and simple with the truth of I was super stressed with exams and life, and I really wasn't writing much. It's here now, and I'm hopeful to get more up in not too long.

“Tell me what you see Echo.” Lexa whispered. Her voice remained soft, the volume of her words barely lifting above the quiet rasp of her breathing, her eyes trained on the darkness at the end of the corridor at the rear. “The Maunon’s command centre is ahead, yes?” 

“Sha Heda.” Echo answered with a sharp nod. “But there is someone guarding the doorway. They carry a gun but it is not Maunon clothing I see.”

Lexa eyes narrowed, her lips pursed, and her heart shuddered in her chest at the possibilities. “Move back. I will look.” 

“Sha Heda.” Echo muttered. The woman pressed her back flush to the smooth concrete wall before shifting backwards around the corner into the wider corridor with the rest of the Trigedakru warriors. “The figure is alone Heda, I see no one else.” 

“Remain here for my signal.” Lexa ordered, her eyes flickering to Ryder’s eyes nodding her head towards the corridor at the group’s rear. “Be watchful.”

The dark haired woman exchanged places with Echo, pressed her back against the cold surface of the concrete wall before slipping around the corner concealed in the shadows cast by the single remaining light in the hallway. Lexa’s eyes slid along the corridor, taking in the swirls of paint scrawled over the walls of the corridor, the arrow pointing in the direction of the room. She inched closer to the doorway, and the figure, patiently shifting through the darkness in order to see the play of light over the figure’s features.

“Clarke,” Lexa’s voice sounded from the silence.

The blonde haired woman turned her eyes away from the wall in front of the doorway turning her gaze down the corridor searching for the source of Lexa’s voice. “Commander,” Clarke murmured narrowing her eyes. “I know you can see me, why don’t you step out of the darkness and let me see you.” 

Lexa stepped forward slowly, one hand curled around the hilt of her sword, the shadows clinging to her shoulders before the light brushed across her body. “Clarke,” Lexa felt her lips lift into a small smile, the tentative quirk of her mouth foreign but welcomed, while her eyes slipped across Clarke's face and clothing. “You are uninjured.” 

“For now,” Clarke answered with a brief nod of her head. “You came back.” 

“Sha,” Lexa agreed. “Oso gonplei ste no odon, I have come to aid you.” 

Clarke tilted her head to the side. Her eyes slipped over Lexa’s face following the three lines of inky black kohl across the bridge of the woman’s nose. “I trusted you Lexa.” Clarke said after a brief moment of silence. “Do not let that trust be misplaced again.”

“It is not Clarke.” Lexa murmured stepping forward to bridge the gap between their bodies, her hand lifting to cradle Clarke’s jaw, her thumb brushing across the woman’s skin. “I took my people to freedom, as Heda it is my task to always think first about my people’s safety and second about the safety of my heart. I returned to preserve the safety of my heart.”

“I understand.” Clarke muttered leaning into the softness of Lexa’s touch for a moment before shifting backwards. “But that does not mean that you are forgiven. Help me free my people, and perhaps there is room for… us, afterwards.” 

“As you wish Klark Heda kom Skaikru,” Lexa said dipping her chin in acknowledgement of the woman’s words, her hand falling away from Clarke’s skin, drifting back to her side. 

Lexa turned on her kneel, lifted her fingers to her lips, and whistled three sharp short notes. Out of the darkness, a group of Trigedakru warriors swarmed forward until they stood in front of Lexa, their eyes focused on their Commander.

“This is Echo of the Ice clan.” Lexa introduced Clarke to the thin figure at the front of the group. “She is the one that lead us through these tunnels to find you.” 

“Thank you Echo,” Clarke said with a brief smile covering her lips. 

“What is your plan Clarke?” Lexa questioned tilting her head sideways as her eyes moved across Clarke’s face, assessing the furrow of the woman’s eyebrows and the pinched expression that marred her lips. 

“The former President – Leader – of the Mountain Men is instead that room,” Clarke said jabbing her thumb backwards over her shoulder at the sealed door. “Two of my people are inside, Bellamy and one of the ones who had been trapped here.” 

“Why is this man not dead?” Lexa queried.

“His son is the one that is holding a separate group of my people captive.” Clarke answered. “Right now Octavia is moving with Lincoln, I saw him arrive on Level 5 on the cameras, and I assume you tasked him with bringing those people out of the Mountain?” 

“Yes.” Lexa said.

“That’s good.” Clarke hummed thoughtfully crossing her arms over her chest. “If I can direct you to the right location, do you think you can disable a group of the Mountain Men soldiers?” 

“It will be difficult in a head on charge, but we are skilled warriors.” Lexa answered. “What is your thinking?”

“I… I want to try to use the old man against his son. If that doesn’t work I need to have a back-up plan.” The woman paused, biting her bottom lip before continuing. “There are people here that helped my people. If I can, I want to save them. We need to get them somewhere we can seal.” 

“Tell me what you need of me Teina and I will do it.” Lexa murmured, ignoring the weight of Ryder’s gaze on the back of her head as she looked at Clarke. 

Clarke licked her lips, her eyes flickering across Lexa’s face thoughtfully, as if she were evaluating the woman. “This is a radio,” Clarke murmured, unclicking a small black box from her waist. “It’s on a channel that my people are using. You press the button on the side when you want to speak, and I will hear it through another radio. Using that I’ll give you directions to find my people.”

“I will not fail you Clarke.” Lexa vowed shifting forwards to curl her hands around Clarke’s shoulders. Lexa held the woman in place as she leaned forward slowly until their foreheads rested against each other. “I will do as you ask Teina.” 

“When this is done,” Clarke murmured as she slipped her hand upwards to cradle Lexa’s cheek, “You are going to have to tell me what that means.” 

“As you wish,” Lexa whispered with a soft smile tugging at the corners of her lips. The Commander broke away from Clarke’s touch and turned to face her people, “Masta op!”

“Head down to level five and radio when you arrive,” Clarke ordered stepping backwards to press her spine flush against the wall of the corridor.

Lexa inclined her head in acknowledgement as she stepped down the length of the corridor into the thick darkness of the shadows.


	7. Gonplei Ona

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The threads of a plan begin to come together in the melting pot that is Mount Weather...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really did not expect it would take me this long to get this update out. I'm truly sorry that it did. Thanks to everyone that's suck with me, and I hope you enjoy it!

Clarke let her back rest against the thick steel of the door as she watched the twitch of Dante Wallace's face, searching through his features for the kindly man that met her in the aftermath of her attack on Maya. Clarke saw the furrow between the man's eyebrows and the tightness of his lips, but muddled by the man's actions she could see the flickering warmth that had once shone in the man's eyes. 

“Do we have a plan?” Bellamy murmured quietly as he leaned against the wall at Clarke's side. He kept his body between Clarke and the former President, shielding the blonde haired woman from the man's calculating eyes, protecting the emotions fluttering across her face. 

“The start of one at least, yes.” Clarke answered with a brief nod. “They're heading to Level Five. We know that Cage is there, and the rest of the Mountain Men, but we don't have eyes on them yet.” 

“So, we wait.” Bellamy muttered. “I don't like it.” 

“Neither do I Bell.” Clarke said. She reached out to squeeze the man's forearm comfortingly before striding across the room to peer over Monty's shoulder. “Anything to tell me Mont? I'm betting on you, you know.” 

“I think I have eyes on Cage.” Monty replied, lifting his hand to point at one of the camera feeds. “He's definitely on Level Five, but he's not anywhere near Octavia.” 

“Makes sense,” Clarke frowned shifting her gaze to one of the multiple monitors and a crude image of the Mount Weather's internal floor plan. “There are distinct zones within the design.”

“Yes.” Monty agree with a brief nod. “In the same way that we had different sectors on the Ark. There are ways to get between these sectors, but that involves travelling through maintenance ducts.”

“Show me.” Clarke ordered. 

Monty pulled the image of Level Five's floor plan up onto the main monitor in front of his work station, and zoomed in on one of the multiple pipes that ran throughout the Mountain. “Judging from the other pipelines that run off this one this is the main maintenance duct for the ventilation systems. I think I can direct a small group through it to get between the two sides of the Level. From here, the quickest way to get there is to go through where Octavia and Jasper are at the moment.” 

“Good.” Clarke swallowed hard, pushing the nervous ache in her chest out of her mind. “I gave Lexa my radio. She will use it to contact you Monty. Direct her to these pipes, and then to Cage.” 

“What are you going to do?” Monty whispered questioningly, tilting his head to the side as he twisted to look backwards at Clarke. He could see the strain on her cheeks and the shimmer of stress in her eyes. 

“Buy us a bit of time.” Clarke answered before tapping her finger on the screen that showed Cage's lab. “That's Carl Emerson. I sent him back here with a message, and a warning. Now, he's right at Cage's side.” Clarke spun on her heel and reached her hand out to Bellamy. “Bell, I need your radio.”

Bellamy frowned as he unclipped the radio from his belt, stepping forward to extend the device to Clarke, his eyebrows furrowed questioningly. “What are you doing Clarke?”

“Announcing our presence.” Clarke said with a wolfish smile spreading across her lips. “Right now, Cage thinks he's won. He thinks that we've played our last hand and come up empty. He needs to know we're a threat.” 

“You're not going to stop him.” Dante interjected with a sneer. His bright blue eyes lifted from the floor to peer at Clarke critically. “You have no plan. No army. No hope.” 

“I've done well with those odds before.” Clarke replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders. “Didn't you know Dante,” She grinned toothily. “I'm the Sky Person with the single highest kill count on the Ground. I'd have thought you would have known that given how well you profited from it.”

“You are one girl.” Dante growled. 

Clarke dipped her head in agreement as she lifted the radio to her lips and began to speak. “Emerson,” Clarke spoke clearly. “This is Clarke Griffin, I'm sure you remember me, and while I'd love to praise you on a job well done, I need you to pass me over to Cage.” 

The trio of Sky People watched as Emerson frowned at the radio in his hands. Clarke's eyes watched the way that Emerson shifted across the room to stand at Cage's side, and bent his head until his lips could brush Cage's ear as he spoke. A handful of rushed words slipped from Emerson's mouth before Cage grabbed the radio from his hands and his scornful voice erupted from Clarke's radio.

“I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting Clarke.” Cage offered as he waved Emerson towards the doorways of the lab. 

“Pleasure isn't exactly the correct word.” Clarke said in reply. “I have an offer for you Cage.” 

“I'm listening.” Cage murmured, his voice sweet, but his face remained stoic and sour on the cameras. 

“Release my people,” Clarke said. “And I won't destroy your people.”

The Command Room listened to the bark of laughter that erupted from the radio as Cage threw his head back and laughed at Clarke's offer. “Funny,” He said with a quiet wheeze. “But, you are not in the position to make demands Clarke, your Commander has abandoned you. You have no army, and as you can see, I have your people.”

“Be smart Cage,” Clarke growled angrily. 

“Oh, I am.” Cage murmured softly. “I've backed you into a corner and now you have nothing left but bluster.” 

*

Lexa knelt silently at the side of the doorway which led to Level Five. Her eyes shifted through the darkness of the corridors searching for enemy figures in the gloom before she lifted the radio from her hip and pressed her finger down on the small speak button Clarke had indicted. “We've arrived.” The Commander whispered into the device, releasing the button, letting static fill the air.

“Good.” A man's – boy's – voice replied from the device. “I can direct you from there.” 

“Who are you?” Lexa growled, her ears trained on the sound of the boy's voice, unfamiliar to her ears but with the soft lilt of the Sky People. 

“Oh,” The boy swallowed, the gulp coming through the static. “I'm Monty, I'm… I'm one of Clarke's people.”

“Has she been harmed?” Lexa snapped sharply.

“No!” Monty exclaimed, his voice low and desperate. “No, she's fine, um, just not available. She's… buying you time.” 

“Time for what?” Lexa hissed as she tightened her hands around the metal of the radio. Thick anger pounded throughout her veins. “What does she desire from me?”

“I can get you to Cage's lab. He's the one holding our people.” Monty said quickly, his words rushing from his lips, tumbling over his tongue in his haste to spit them out. “You've got to go through where Octavia is first, there are a few soldiers there, but not many.”

“Direct us.” Lexa ordered.

*

“I have your father.” Clarke said. She kept her voice level, pushing the tremble out of her words as she let her eyes fall onto Dante Wallace. “If you drill into one more of my people for their bone marrow I will not hesitate to kill him, and be careful Cage, I can see you.” 

*

The first soldier fell with a gush of blood and a hiss of air. The second with a crack and a guttural scream. The third, and final, soldier died with a prayer on his lips and a sword buried in his gut. 

*

“I don't believe you.” Cage drawled with a smirk staining his lips. “You're not a murderer Clarke.” 

“Aren't I?” Clarke asked with a quiet laugh. “I've killed hundreds of my enemies to protect my people Cage, why would this situation be any different?”

“You have nothing Clarke.” Cage growled. 

“I can open the vents.” Monty whispered lifting his head to look into Clarke's eyes. “Bellamy did it before, to save us, he opened the vents. Redirected the air. I can do it again.” 

“Are you sure?” Clarke breathed out softly. “You have to be sure Monty.”

“I'm sure.” Monty said. “I can do it.” 

“What about the people that helped us?” Bellamy asked quickly, stepping forward to curl his fingers around Clarke's bicep. “What about Maya?”

“Isolation.” Clarke answered. 

Bellamy's eyebrows furrowed into a tight line. “What?”

“We get them to isolation. The place that we were when we first arrived. They locked us in clean rooms.” Clarke said in a rush. “Lexa, Monty, contact Lexa. We need Octavia to take them to isolation.” 

“On it!” Monty murmured as he shifted his attention back to the computer.

*

“Commander?” A voice murmured from the radio. 

Lexa dipped her head down to gaze at the device tugging it from her belt as she wiped the edge of her sword on her jacket. “Monty,” Lexa said. “Speak.”

“Are you with Octavia?” Monty asked breathlessly. “We have a plan.” 

“A plan?” Lexa asked with a lift of her eyebrow. Her eyes searched through the group of dazed Mountain Men until they landed upon Lincoln and the smaller figure perched on his shoulder. The dark haired woman strode forward until she reached Octavia's side before thrusting the radio into her palm. “Your Monty wishes to speak to you.” 

“Monty!” Octavia grabbed the radio and pressed her finger against the speak button. “You're all right!”

“For now.” Monty answered succinctly. “Listen, we've got a plan, but it means that you have to do something.” 

“Anything,” Octavia murmured. 

“Maya's there with you, right?” Monty said waiting for Octavia's confirmation before continuing. “You need to escort her and her people to the isolation rooms and seal them in. We're going to open the Mountain.” 

“Are you serious?” Octavia breathed out quietly. “That's...”

“Our only option.” Clarke's voice rang over the radio. “We don't have much time Octavia. Get them moving. Now.” 

“On it Clarke.” Octavia answered sharply tossing the radio back to Lexa as she turned on her heel to find Maya in the crowd.

Lexa let her eyes fall on Lincoln before speaking. “Take your gonakru and go with Octavia.” 

“Sha Heda.” The man murmured softly.

*

“Are you really prepared to find out what I can do Cage?” Clarke asked softly, letting her words drip from her tongue invitingly. “You've got everything to lose here Cage.”

“You can't do anything!” Cage roared in anger.

“Ten minutes Cage,” Clarke murmured. “Ten minutes and if you don't release my people I will kill your father. Drill one more of them, and I will destroy your people. Are you truly willing to bet that I can't do it Cage, are you willing to bet your entire people on the idea that I could be bluffing?”

“Stay the course Cage!” Dante yelled, spitting the words out desperately. “Stay the course!”


	8. Gouthru Klir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The pieces are set. The warnings have been made. All that is left to see is whether Cage will call Clarke's "bluff" or not...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has roughly two more chapters left until it is complete. Thank you so much to everyone that's stuck with it along the way. I know it has been an awfully long time since I started writing and posting this story. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

“Hod op,” Lincoln hissed his voice a soft rumble in the air as he held his closed fist up over his shoulder. “Maunon gona.”

“Tu.” Lak counted his hand pressed against Lincoln's shoulder as he leaned over the man's back to look down the length of the shadow strewn corridor. “Shof jomp op.”

“Sha.” Lincoln agreed with a slight nod of his head as he turned his gaze to the sides of the corridor. The man peered into the shadows; searching for a clear pathway towards the two Mountain Men guards assessing the darkness of the hallway. “Masta op Lak.”

Lak dipped his head into a shallow nod as he crouched down at Lincoln's side. The pair stepped forward soundlessly and crept through the dim shadows caused by the Mountain's malfunctioning electrical supply. Lincoln kept his footsteps light. His body rocked forwards onto his toes to dampen the noise of his footsteps, whilst his eyes remained locked on the Guards' backs. The dark haired warrior lifted his hand into the air as he came to a stop three meters behind the first of the two Maunon. Lincoln jerked his head to the man on the left hand side of the hallway before pointing towards his own chest. Lak nodded before pointing towards the man on the right and tapping his own chest in agreement.

Lincoln held up three fingers.

He dropped one.

Lak crept forward half a pace.

He dropped the second finger and drew his knife out of it's sheath.

Lak wrapped a string of coarse metal twine between his fists.

Lincoln dropped the third finger.

The two warrior leapt forward in tandem.

Lincoln went left. His right arm slid around the guard's broad shoulders and jerked backwards on the underside of the man's chin. His left hand reached upwards. The blade of the knife glittering in the dim light. It sliced through the skin and muscle of the man's throat. Blood spurted from the wound. It stained Lincoln's fingertips and the length of his blade. The man slipped to the ground.

Lak dove right. He jumped to wrap his legs around the second guard's hips whilst ramming his knife into the flesh of the man's shoulder. He tore the knife down, through the skin, bone, and sinew. Muscle ripped away from flesh until the knife cut through into the guard's lungs. Lak slipped from the man's back, letting him drop to the floor, the blood gurgling out of his chest.

“Em gonplei ste odon.” Lincoln murmured. His lips twisted into a small smile, his tone tinged with pride and regret, he reached out to grasp his hand around Lak's shoulder. “You are a warrior now.”

“Sha.” Lak agreed, his eyes dancing with satisfaction, but his face sombre. “Gouthru klir.”

Lincoln turned his head to look down the length of the corridor at his rear. He lifted his hand into the air and waved the group of men and women out of the shadows. The man's ears tingled with the sound of scuttling footsteps and shallow breathing, but he ignored the noise in favour of the thankful expression etched onto their faces. “It is clear.” He murmured, his voice thick and heavy, but it carried through the air into Octavia's ears. “Masta op!”

Maya scurried forward to Octavia's side, her eyes flickering questioningly between the dark haired woman and the Grounder warrior. “What does that mean?”

“Follow,” Octavia translated. She let her eyes slip sideways to offer Maya a reassuring glance before striding forward into the darkness. “The path is clear, for now.”

“He's...” Maya paused and swallowed hard. “He's very good.”

“He is.” Octavia agreed. “Even if he doesn't want to be – that's the life of a Grounder. It is hard, but...”

“He is a good man.” Maya said. “He doesn't have to help us, but he is.”

“Do you know where we are?” Octavia queried sharply, cutting off the path of the conversation.

“Yes.” Maya answered turning her eyes to the numbers etched onto the walls. She studied the numbers briefly before continuing to speak. “There are only two more corridors to go until we reach the elevator for the quarantine level.”

“Elevator?” Octavia lifted her eyebrow and pursed her lips. “How do you know it will still be active?”

“The quarantine level, and the routes into it, are kept on a separate power grid powered by a smaller turbine away from the main hydroelectric power plant.” Maya explained. “It's a product of it's function—the last line that my people could retreat towards in case of a radiation leak.”

Octavia dipped her head in understanding, a small smile curling the corners of her lips as she looked at the other woman. “And, it's the only place your people will be safe if we have to open the Mountain to stop Cage.”

*

“What is Cage doing?” Clarke questioned, lifting her eyebrow inquiringly as she turned to look at Monty. “How much time has passed?”

“He still has Raven on the table,” Monty answered as he cycled through a series of cameras. “But, he doesn't seem to be drilling at the moment. He's got four minutes left to decide whether you're telling the truth about Dante.”

Clarke tilted her head to look over at the white haired man curled up on the floor of the Command Centre. “Cage will learn that when it comes to my people I'm always serious.”

“Cage will stay the course.” Dante answered with a frown marring his lips. “He's right. You don't have any other plan of attack. This is all one elaborate bluff.”

“We shall see.” Clarke said, letting her shoulders to lift upwards into a shrug as she turned away from the man.

*

“I have reached the entryway to the shaft Monty of the Sky People.” Lexa hissed into the strange metallic grating of the radio as she knelt by the wall beside the covering of the maintenance tunnel. “What would you have me do?”

There was a faint hiss of static on the other side of the radio before Monty's voice picked up on the other side. “Right,” He murmured. “You've got to head through the tunnel. According to my schematics there is an intersection roughly thirty feet straight ahead where you will need to take the left tunnel.”

“Tell us the entire journey.” Lexa said, nodding her head to Echo to bend her head over the radio. “Once we get inside the tunnel we cannot be sure that we will not be overheard by the Maunon. We must be silent.”

“Oh,” Monty stammered over the radio, his voice wavering slightly, before he began to speak once more. “After the left you'll travel to another intersection, this time you need to go right, and look for an opening on the bottom of the shaft. That should be inside Cage's lab.”

“Chof,” Lexa commented slipping the radio down onto her belt, clipping it to the thick leather, beside her scabbard.

“Commander,” Monty's voice rang from the device. “The time limit that Clarke gave Cage runs out in two minutes. You must hurry.”

Lexa clenched her jaw, anger pounded throughout her veins, whilst a hard stone of fear sank into the pit of her stomach. “You heard him gonakru,” She said addressing the assembled mixture of warriors in front of her. “The Sky People, our allies, are in need and we must be swift. Following the person in front of you closely and no not allow yourself to be turned around inside these tunnels. We must prove that the warriors of the Coalition are greater than any foe, on any ground, at any time. Sha?”

“Sha Heda!” The Warriors roared, each with a flash of teeth, and a fierce grin that stretched their lips wide.

“Echo, lead us into the tunnels.” Lexa commanded tilting her head towards the grating.

*

“Time's up.” Monty reported as he lifted his head away from the computer monitors to look at Clarke. The dark haired boy's eyes ran across his leader's body, noting the tiny scars that littered her face, and the harsh clench of her jaw. “They're in the tunnels, but they've gone radio silent. I can't contact them any more.”

Clarke let her lips quirk upwards into a quick smile as she reached out to squeeze the man's shoulder. “Thanks Monty.”

“What now?” Monty queried lifting his eyebrow questioningly.

“Now, I need to talk to Cage again.” Clarke replied. “Tell him that his time is up and he needs to make a decision.”

Clarke turned took a deep breath, letting her eyes slip closed for a moment, before uncoupling the radio from her belt and lifting it to her mouth. “Cage Wallace,” She spoke keeping her voice as level as possible. “Your ten minutes are over. Have you come to a decision?”

“Yes.” The man replied his voice tainted by the sneer on his lips. “I'm calling your bluff. You don't have what it takes to murder my father. He's the only one that's been trying to help your people in the Mountain Clarke.”

“And yet,” Clarke commented letting her voice slide steadily out of her mouth. “You are the one that hasn't touched one of my people since we last spoke. I can see you Cage, I know what you've been doing, I know that you've been pacing. If you don't think I'm willing to kill your father what has you so worried? The fact that you're losing contact with your people outside that room? The fact that my friends have told you exactly what I'm willing to do? What has you scared Cage?”

“I'm not scared!” Cage roared, his voice a rough mix of anger and fear, hatred tingeing the man's tone.

“Release my people Cage.” Clarke whispered into the radio. The blonde haired woman paced across the room to stand in front of Dante. “Stand.” She ordered, waiting for the man to clamber onto his feet before lifting her handgun to point at the centre of his chest. “What is your choice Cage? Your Father, or my people?”

“Cage,” Dante spoke quietly. “Remember our people. Remember our goals. Remember, stay the course.”

“I don't think you will kill my father Clarke.” Cage answered, letting the radio run into static.

“He's...” Monty's voice trembled. “Oh god, he's getting the drill out, Raven's on the table.”

Clarke clenched her jaw tightly as she pressed down on the speak button on the side of the radio.

She did not speak as she squeezed her finger around the trigger of her gun.

A loud crack exploded out of the handgun.

Then, a pained grunt escaped Dante's mouth.

The man fell backwards onto the ground. Blood gurgled out of his lips. Clarke looked down at the man and lifted the radio to her mouth. “Release my people or I will destroy yours. Now you know I'm serious Cage.”


	9. Wamplei Maunon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For decades Mount Weather has meant death to the Grounders, but Clarke intends to bring death to the Mountain.

Clarke stood stoically in the middle of the Command Centre.

 

The woman's heart hammered against her sternum. Her lungs burned in her chest, and her fingers tightened around the grip of her handgun. A trembling finger reached out to re-engage the safety on the side of the handgun before returning it to the holster on her hip.

 

Clarke's eyes bored into Dante's limp body. Keen blue orbs following the path of the blood that leaked out of the wound in the centre of the man's chest, arcing across his shoulders before dripping onto the floor underneath his crumpled form. She stepped forward to kneel down at Dante's side. Clarke reached out with shaky fingers to close the man's eyelids, cutting off his deadened stare, hiding the achingly familiar steel blue eyes behind the man's eyelids.

 

“Tell me what is happening.” Clarke ordered, her voice lifting to carry her question to Monty, but her eyes did not leave Dante's face.

 

“I...” Monty gasped. The boy's voice slipped out of his mouth as a fearful whimper. “He hasn't stopped.”

 

“Do we know if Octavia has made it to the quarantine level?” Bellamy murmured as he drifted across the room to place his hand reassuringly on Clarke's shoulder. The man's fingers dug down into the tender flesh, anchoring Clarke in the moment with the stab of pain, before smoothing his thumb across the soft skin at the nape of Clarke's neck. “Or where Lexa's group are?”

 

“Octavia's made it to the quarantine level.” Monty answered as he tapped his fingers across the screen. “I can't engage any of the seals from this end but I am monitoring their progress.”

 

“And?” Clarke asked sharply, lifting her eyes to peer sideways at Monty. “What can you see?”

 

“They've got all but one of the seals closed. It looks like Maya and her people are inside the level, while Octavia and Lincoln are guarding the outer doorway.” Monty reported, the tightness of the boy's voice lessening as he spoke.

 

“Good.” Clarke whispered as she braced her hands on her knees and stood upright. “Then, we can move forward. Monty, prepare the Mountain's vents to be opened.”

 

“What about Lexa?” Monty asked biting down on his bottom lip to level out the fear pounding throughout his body.

 

Clarke shook her head. “We cannot rely on Lexa and her warriors making it through the maintenance shafts to get to Cage's lab before he manages to drill Raven and the others.”

 

Bellamy let his head dip into a reluctant nod. “But, there might be some of the Mountain Men that are already immune to the radiation. We know that Cage has given the therapy to a handful of his personal soldiers.”

 

“Quite,” Clarke agreed, flicking her eyes sideways to meet Bellamy's gaze, before returning her eyes to Monty. “That's where Lexa comes in. They're radio silent, so, we cannot contact her but I trust that she will understand when some of the Mountain Men begin to fall.”

 

“If she arrives.” Bellamy interjected.

 

“If she arrives.” Clarke agreed.

 

*

 

“Eko,” Lexa grunted as she crawled through the narrow passage with the Ice Nation woman in front of her leading the way. “We must hurry. The Skaikru time limit has long been exceeded.”

 

“Sha.” Echo answered as she turned down the right intersection and began to hurry along the maintenance shaft straight ahead. “The boy said that we should begin to look for a vent inside the shaft beginning now.”

 

“Once we find it,” Lexa said, using her knees to propel her body down the shaft, one of her hands gripping the hilt of her sword to prevent it tapping against the floor of the shaft and alerting any possible soldiers below. “You are to go passed it and turn around if you are able. I will be the first through the vent.”

 

“Sha Heda.” Echo murmured, glancing backwards to catch Lexa's gaze.

 

*

 

“Your father is dead Cage.” Clarke said with a level voice as she spoke into the radio. “You did not release my people, and for that, your father has been killed like you have killed members of my people. Release the rest of my people and I will not destroy yours. You know now I am serious.”

 

“No!” Cage roared. Anger and grief tightened the man's vocal cords forcing the words to come out of his mouth as a wretched shriek. “I do not believe that you will kill innocents Clarke. We have children inside this Mountain.”

 

“Oh,” Clarke grinned, struggling to mask the vague flickers of happiness bubbling in the pit of her stomach, watching the way that Cage paced back and forth across his lab between the table that had Raven tied to it and Emerson. “Of course, you haven't been getting reports from your men, have you?”

 

“What do my men have to do with anything?” Cage questioned with a growl.

 

Clarke let her eyes fall onto Raven's form, watching as the young mechanic struggled on the table, before she answered. “Your men are dead Cage. You do not have control of the Mountain any more.”

 

“I have your people!” Cage roared spinning to look upwards at the small camera in the corner of the room. “You will not sacrifice them.”

 

“I will not have to Cage.” Clarke answered softly.

 

*

 

“Heda,” Echo hissed, keeping her voice quiet as she looked down the length of the corridor. “I hear voices.”

 

“I do as well Eko.” Lexa replied. The dark haired woman clenched her jaw, grinding her teeth as she struggled to listen passed the sound of the machines humming in the walls of the Mountain to pick out the words spoken. “We are closing in on them.”

 

“Sha.” Echo murmured in agreement.

 

*

 

“Oh god.” Monty whimpered. “Clarke, he's got the drill out.”

 

“Raven,” Clarke hissed. She strode across the length of the room. Her eyes locked on the monitor beside Monty's head. “No.”

 

“It's ready.” Monty murmured, biting the inside of his cheek as he pointed towards the lever on the side of the desk. “I've unlocked the seals. That is the master lock. You have to insert a key-card, like the one we got from Dante, and release it.”

 

Bellamy watched as the man on the other side of the base began to lower the drill to Raven's hip. “Do it Clarke.” He murmured, gritting his teeth as he looked at the blonde haired woman. “Do it now.”

 

“Last chance Cage,” Clarke spat out into the radio as she inserted Dante Wallace's key-card into the socket beside the release lever. “Stop what you are doing right now, and so will I.”

 

“No.” Cage sneered through the radio.

 

Clarke watched as his threw the device to the other side of the room. It smashed on the ground, spluttering sparks of electricity, useless to everyone. “Fine.” Clarke muttered, closing her eyes as she placed her hand on the lever.

 

*

 

A scream pierced the air.

 

Lexa snapped her head upwards as the sound rattled across her ears.

 

“There!” She said, pointing passed Echo to the grating embedded into the shaft twenty metres ahead.

 

*

 

Clarke lowered the lever.

 

She watched as Raven's back arched off the table.

 

Her mouth open as a scream left her throat, but Clarke could not hear the woman's pain.

 

“Monty?” Clarke questioned, biting down on her lip, glancing back and forth between the monitor and the younger boy.

 

“The seals are open.” Monty said. “The air… The radiation is inside the Mountain. The alarms will sound in a moment.”

 

*

 

Lexa gritted her teeth as a loud whine erupted into the air.

 

The noise screeched loudly, grating across Lexa's eardrums, sinking into the very corners of her thoughts.

 

Her fingers pried at the vent, working the edge loose as she stared down through the grating at the woman on the table, and the man standing over her. Lexa recognised the woman as Clarke's mechanic—Raven—and she tugged harder on the vent.

 

*

 

“There,” Bellamy murmured lifting his hand to point at the man standing next to the drilling devices. “His skin.”

 

Clarke let her attention flicker away from Cage and Raven to the man standing at Cage's side. His sandy blonde hair framed his face, but Clarke was not interested in the shape of the man's jaw or the line of his eyebrows. Instead, her eyes focused on the way that the man's face began to contort in pain and blistered bubbled across his skin. “Radiation damage.” She murmured, the corners of her lips curling upwards into a pleased smile. “It's started.”

 

“There's three in the room with radiation damage.” Monty reported pointing to the three figures.

 

*

 

Lexa ripped the metal grating upwards out of the floor and rolled her body forward through the newly made gap in the same motion.

 

The Commander landed on the balls of her feet, drawing her sword in the same motion as she turned to slide across the chest of the first man in the Maunon Guard uniform. The woman spun away from the first kill to cut through a second man.

 

“Release Reivon!” Lexa ordered, her voice a rough growl as she reached out to curl her fingers around the collar of Emerson's shirt, the tip of her sword pricked against the man's stomach. Lexa spun the man with a sharp twist of her left hand before encircling his shoulders to press her forearm over the man's throat. “Now.”

 

Cage's eyes flickered down to the point of Lexa's sword.

 

Lexa followed the movement of the man's throat as he swallowed.

 

Cage stepped forward to disconnect the drill. The whining of the machine disappeared from the air plunging the room into a silence of white noise made by the Sky People's breathing and Raven's pained moans.

 

“By Clarke's command this Mountain has fallen.” Lexa spoke keeping her sword pointed at Cage's chest.

 

Cage lifted his eyes to meet Emerson's gaze. His chin dipped into a nod. Emerson threw his head backwards to connect with the bridge of Lexa's nose. The rush of blood from the woman's nose was immediate and the dancing lights across Lexa's vision were disorientating.

 

“Clarke Griffin killed my father!” Cage roared angrily. He lashed out to grip of a woman's shirt, tugging upwards until the weakened woman stumbled onto her feet, shoving the muzzle of his handgun into the woman's ribs. “I will kill her Mother.”

 

*

 

“Mom!” Clarke gasped, lifting her hand to cover her mouth, her eyes wide and fearful.

 

*

 

“You have lost Cage.” Lexa said, her voice low but it held the same steel edge as her sword. The dark haired woman flung Emerson away from her chest into one of her warrior's—Ryder's—arms. “You have nothing to gain.”

 

“Satisfaction.” Cage sneered in reply. “Clarke's taken my people from me, she's taken my father, I will take her Mother away.”

 

Lexa tilted her head to the side as she watched the man's jaw clench. She followed the flicker of his eyes and the rampant throb of his pulse in the side of the his neck. “No.” She murmured softly. “You will not.”

 

“You cannot stop me _Commander_ ,” Cage chuckled lifting the gun away from Abby's skin.

 

Lexa darted forward. One step, then she thrust her sword forward.

 

The tip of the blade slid through the gap left between Cage's arm and Abby's body. The weight of Lexa's body pushed the sword through skin and muscle until the blade erupted from the man's back. Lexa pushed forward on the blade. Cage toppled backwards and Abby stumbled into Lexa's chest.

 

“Yes.” Lexa murmured her eyes focused on the man's face watching as the blood frothed from his lips. “I can.”  


	10. Ai Houmon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mountain has fallen.

Lexa tore her eyes away from Cage's bloodstained lips to meet Abby's pained and frantic gaze. “You are safe.” The Commander murmured, her voice flat and gentle, whilst her free hand settled on Abby's waist to stabilise the woman. “But, you need to tend to Reivon.”

“Commander...” Abby blinked, her eyebrows pinched together into a tight line of confusion. “I don't...”

“Tend to Reivon.” Lexa ordered jerking her chin sideways to the dark haired mechanic stretched out across the hard bench. The Commander squeezed Abby's waist reassuringly before pulling away from the woman and turning towards her warriors. “Eko,” She said, her voice loud and hard in contrast to her tone with Abby. “Secure our captives, and release the Skaikru.”

“Sha Heda.” Ryder murmured with a dip of his chin as he tightened his hands around Emerson's shoulders.

Lexa cast her eyes around the room, idly noting the slumped bodies of the Mountain Men guards strewn across the floor, their skin red and blistered. The dark haired woman unclipped the radio from her belt, twisted the dial on the top, before lifting the device to her lips to speak. “Clarke,” She said. “I have your people. They are safe.”

Clarke's voice slipped through the radio after a short moment of crackling silence. “Lexa,” The voice said relief clear in the tone of her voice. “You did it.”

“Sha.” Lexa agreed. “Cage Wallace is dead.”

“I know.” Clarke said through the radio. “I… I saw it happen.”

“I will free your people and lead them back to you Clarke.” Lexa promised as she shifted her eyes to watch her warriors undoing the clasps of the Mountain Men's restraints. “What do you wish to do with your captives?”

“My captives?” Clarke queried—Lexa pictured the woman's dark blonde eyebrows pulled together in an expression of intense confusion, and a small smile appeared on her lips.

“Sha.” Lexa repeated. “Your captives. It was your actions that brought down the Mountain Klark.”

“Bring them with you.” Clarke answered after a moment of silence. “We will judge them together.”

“Mochof Klark.” Lexa murmured into the radio. “We will rendezvous shortly.”

*

“Monty,” Clarke breathed out softly, placing her hands on the boy's shoulders, before slumping against his back. “You did it.”

Monty leaned backwards into Clarke's weight as he lifted his hands to squeeze the woman's hands. “You got us here in the first place.” He muttered with a slight shrug of his shoulders. “And you're the one that pulled the lever.”

Clarke huffed out a soft laugh, and shook her head. “How about we think of it as a team effort?” She questioned as she shifted her eyes to meet Bellamy's gaze.

“Yes,” Bellamy grinned in response. “Definitely a team effort.”

“Can you get me loudspeaker for the entire base Mont?” Clarke asked, standing up straight, her eyes flickering to the alternatively between the monitors showing Cage's lab and the Quarantine rooms. “We need to get a message to Octavia.”

“Oh,” Monty nodded turning back to the computers. “I think...” He tapped out a series of commands before nodding to the microphone embedded into the desk. “There, press the button on the side and everyone will be able to hear you.”

*

Octavia lifted her head when a quiet whine filled the corridor. “This is Clarke Griffin.” The words seemed to boom out of the very walls, but the sound of the other woman's voice prompted a smile on form on Octavia's mouth. “Cage Wallace is dead. Dante Wallace is dead. I am now in command of the Mountain. Anyone that wishes to surrender to me should make their way to the Mess Hall on level five, without weapons.”

“It seems as if Clarke's plan was successful.” Octavia commented as she shifted her eyes to look at Lincoln.

“Sha.” The man agreed. “That is fortunate.”

“I wonder why she didn't contact us directly,” Octavia muttered. “Even with the loudspeaker.”

“It would make us a target.” Lincoln answered with a shrug of his shoulders. “A Maunon might presume that we have taken their people prisoner.”

“Huh.” Octavia blinked. “I didn't think of that.”

“I wonder if there are any people left to surrender.” Lincoln said after a moment of silence. “I doubt that the treatment has been given to many people.”

“It might have just been a message for us.” Octavia said pursing her lips in thought. “But, Clarke couldn't just say that.”

Lincoln dipped his chin in agreement. “Sha.”

*

“Where's my daughter?” Abby asked, stepping forward to grasp Lexa's forearm as the woman made to shift passed Abby toward the doorway of Cage's laboratory.

“Safe.” Lexa answered. “If that is what you are asking Abby of the Sky People.”

“She's safe?” Abby drew in a long breath, and her body sagged backwards until she rested on the edge of the bench Raven lay across.

“Yes.” Lexa murmured, reaching upwards to squeeze her hand around Abby's shoulder. “Can Reivon be moved? We must rendezvous with Klark.”

Abby's lips twisted into a pinched frown as she turned her head to regard the dark haired woman on the bench. “She shouldn't—no, she can't—walk. But, otherwise, yes she can be moved.”

“I will instruct one of my warriors to carry her then.” Lexa decided.

“I'm sure one of my people could...” Abby's words trailed off into silence when Lexa lifted her hand to halt the woman's speech.

“I'm sure that while one of your people could carry her it would be quicker if one of my warriors did.” Lexa explained waving her hand at the numerous Sky People and members of the Forty Four slumped against the walls of the laboratory. “Your people have been through a great ordeal Abby, it is not weakness to accept aid when it is offered.”

“I...” Abby shook her head and nodded slowly. “Thank you.”

Lexa dipped her chin in acknowledgement before spinning on her heel. “Eko, you will lead us out of this room and back to the command centre. Ryder, you will carry Reivon as she is unable to walk. Stye, I want you to move at the head of the captives, and the others surrounding them, I will be at the rear of the captives and in front of the Sky People.”

“Sha Heda.” The group replied respectfully before shifting around the room to arrange themselves and their captives.

“Clarke,” Lexa murmured into the radio. “We are on the way back to the Command Centre.”

The radio crackled in response, “I await your arrival Leksa.”

*

Bellamy clasped his hand around Clarke's shoulder and squeezed the taut muscle reassuringly. “So,” He murmured, a small smile playing across his lips, while his eyes shifted sideways to meet Clarke's gaze. “What's our next move?”

Clarke frowned, biting her bottom lip, casting her eyes sideways to the corner of the room. “Getting rid of his body.” She answered as she jerked her chin towards the slumped form of Dante Wallace. “I don't… I don't really want my Mom to see that.”

“She knows you did it Clarke.” Bellamy replied as a frown marred his lips.

“I know.” Clarke agreed flashing the man a kind smile. “But that doesn't mean she needs to see it. The things I've done Bell—the people I've killed—are my burdens to bear.”

Bellamy clenched his jaw and tightened his fingers around Clarke's shoulder. “No.” He ground out with a quick, sharp, shake of his head. “We did this together.”

Clarke let her lips twist into a wistful smile as she reached up to squeeze Bellamy's fingers. “Not everything.” She whispered her eyes flickering towards Dante's body before slipping back to the lever. “Not this.”

“I...” Bellamy swallowed, glancing sideways at the back of Monty's head, watching as the boy flicked through the security feeds to follow Lexa's party through the corridors of the Mountain. “If you need forgiveness I can give it to you. You're forgiven Clarke.”

Clarke tightened her fingers around Bellamy's hand for a brief moment before moving away from the man's touch. She let his words fall into silence—an acknowledgement of, but not an agreement to the gesture. The blonde haired woman slipped across the command centre to kneel at Dante's side. She smoothed her hand across his face to close his newly dulled blue eyes before slipping her hands underneath the man's arms. “Can you open the door for me?” She asked with a jerk of her head towards the doorway.

“Where are you going to put him?” Monty asked curiously as he turned away from the computers to regard Clarke and the old president's body.

“Out of the way.” Clarke answered. “For now, just around the corner, we can bury the dead later.”

“You're going to bury them?” Bellamy asked with a lift of his eyebrow.

Clarke nodded slowly. “Yes.” She said after a brief pause. “I want to bring an end to this Mountain. My Mom's going to want to use it, but we can't do that. This place is… It's tainted.”

“I agree.” Monty murmured. “After all the things that happened here we can't use it.”

“Your Mom isn't going to be pleased with that Clarke.” Bellamy warned as he opened the door into the hallway.

“Then,” Clarke grunted as she heaved Dante's body out of the doorway and down the corridor a short way. “It's a good things she's not in charge.”

Bellamy blinked rapidly, flicking his gaze back and forth between Clarke's shadowed eyes and Monty's incredulous expression. “But,” He murmured. “She's Chancellor.”

“Possibly, yes.” Clarke answered with a shrug of her shoulders. “We didn't actually clear that up.”

“What do you mean?” Bellamy queried. “I'd have thought that was pretty important.”

“I didn't take the Chancellor's pin.” Clarke explained, rubbing her hands on the fabric of her trousers to wipe the blood off her skin, before scraping her fingers through her hair. “But, I did take charge. The Grounders didn't acknowledge her position anyway, and she doesn't understand life on the ground. I did what I had to do.”

“I...” Bellamy paused, watching the lines of tension seep across Clarke's face, before continuing to speak. “I believe you Clarke. You've got my support.”

Clarke let her lips twist into a thankful smile. “Thanks Bell.”

“And mine.” Monty added. “If you need it.”

“Thank you.” Clarke smiled gratefully.

*

“Heda!” Echo called from the front of the haphazard collection of Sky People, Mountain Men, and Trigedakru warriors. “We've arrived.”

“Ryder, bring Reivon,” Lexa barked out the warrior's name sharply. “Eko, you two are with me; Abby come with me.”

“Sha Heda.” The two warriors answered in unison. Ryder adjusted his grip on the dark haired woman in his hands as he fell into step behind his leader. His eyes peered at the woman's back as she strode through the crowd of Sky People towards the door in the middle of the hallway. Lexa rattled her knuckles across the metal, and stood back to allow the door to open before stepping through into the room. Ryder slipped through into the woman's wake to claim one of the seats for his charge.

“Clarke!” Abby exclaimed thankfully, striding forward to slide her arms around the younger woman's waist, drawing her into a tight embrace. “You're all right.”

Lexa watched as Clarke tensed in the circle of her Mother's arms before slumping forward to bury her face in the crook of the woman's neck. The Commander's hands itched to cradle Clarke's cheeks in the palms of her hands, to smooth her thumbs across the woman's skin, to wipe the tear trails away from her flesh, but she let her desires hang in the air for the moment.

“I tried to be the good guy.” Clarke whispered into her Mother's shoulder as she clutched at the back of Abby's shirt. “I… I didn't have a choice.”

“Perhaps,” Abby murmured, pressing a soft kiss to the side of Clarke's temple, breathing in the scent of her daughter's skin in an effort to calm the thunderous pulse of her heart. “There aren't any good guys or bad guys. Maybe, life is just what we make it.”

Clarke choked out a laugh as she nodded her head. “Maybe.” She agreed with a wet chuckle.

“Klark,” Lexa let the blonde haired woman's name slip out of her lips unbidden as she stepped up to the side of the Mother and Daughter. She remembered the three lines of kohl smeared across her face, and the harsh fluttering of her heart in her chest that appeared when she laid eyes on Clarke.

“Commander,” Clarke smiled, shifting away from her Mother's arms to brush her fingers down the smooth leather of Lexa's armoured vest. “Thank you.”

Lexa blinked. “Thank you?” She asked questioningly, her lips pursed in confusion, while her eyes scanned across Clarke's features.

“You saved my people.” Clarke explained a ghost of a smile spreading across her lips in response to the furrow that had formed between Lexa's eyebrows. “So, thank you.”

“Oh.” Lexa paused, then shook her head. “I was merely the instrument of your plans Klark. You saved your people.”

“You came back for me.” Clarke whispered, letting her hand stray to Lexa's cheek, cradling the woman's face in her palm. “I'm grateful.”

“Sha Teina.” Lexa whispered, her eyes fluttering closed in response to Clarke's touch. “I chose with my heart.”

* * *

“Are you sure you have to go Clarke?” Abby questioned with a frown. “It's only been three months since the Mountain…”

“I know Mom.” Clarke said shrugging her shoulders. “Which, means that we're actually three months overdue.”

Abby huffed out a breath of annoyance before stepping forward to smooth her palms across Clarke's shoulders. “Do you have everything you need?”

“Sha.” Clarke answered with a quick nod. “Octavia and Bellamy finished securing the supplies an hour ago. Raven finished fashioning a new radio receiver last week, and now she's itching to install it in Polis. Kane is, well, I don't really know what he's doing but he said he'd be ready to travel.”

“You're getting more and more like her everyday Clarke.” Abby sighed in mock exasperation as she brushed her finger across Clarke's cheek before pulling the digit back to reveal the kohl stained on her skin. “Including the paint.”

“It's a symbol.” Clarke said with a quirk of her eyebrow. “Besides, I'm her houmon, what do you else do you expect?”

The older woman lifted her shoulders into a shrug before she curled her arms around Clarke's body. “I suppose,” She murmured into her ear. “Just, be careful, all right?”

“No harm will come to Klark,” A voice sprang up from behind the Chancellor. “You have my word Abby of the Sky People.”

“Just because you're my daughter's wife does not mean that you can sneak up on me.” Abby groused as she pulled away from Clarke with a frown marring her lips.

Lexa let a small smile spread across her lips before she dipped her chin to acquiescence. “As you say Chancellor Griffin.”

“Lexa,” Clarke admonished with a shake of her head reaching out to slap the back of her hand across Lexa's bicep. “Don't tease my Mom.”

“Sha Teina.” Lexa murmured, curling her arm around Clarke's waist, drawing her in close to press her lips to the woman's cheek. “We need to be on our way. Polis awaits.”

Clarke leaned backwards into the protective circle of Lexa's arms, luxuriating in the feel of the woman's muscles flexing underneath her clothes, before giving a shallow nod. “Lead the way ai houmon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story from the beginning to this, the end, I am immensely grateful for each and every one of you. I hope you have enjoyed this final chapter. Thanks for reading!


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